Ethiopia is observing an official mourning period for more than 50 people killed during a crackdown and stampede at an ethnic cultural festival in the Oromia region Sunday.

Human rights campaigners are expressing concerns over Russian involvement in The Gambia ahead of the West African nation’s critical winter polls.

“We should all be highly skeptical regarding the statements made about Feyisa’s supposed safety when he returns home,” says Jeffrey Smith of Vanguard Africa. “Over the years, the Ethiopian government has shown a ruthless inability to accept or otherwise tolerate any semblance of criticism.”

Zambia goes to the polls on Aug. 11 in an increasingly tense climate marked by protests, violence and the government’s targeted attacks on the opposition. The crackdown launched by President Edgar Lungu is a worrying trend toward further democratic backsliding in the long-stable country.

Protesters called for electoral changes and for UDP President Yahya Jammeh to step down.

In the United States last week, cell phone videos made sure that Alton Sterling and Philando Castile’s names were heard. In Zimbabwe, WhatsApp and Twitter have kept a civil society leader wearing his nation’s flag around his neck out of a prison cell (for now).

Mr. Jeffrey Smith, Executive Director of the Vanguard Africa Movement, an organization working to advance good governance and reform across the continent, told PREMIUM TIMES the development was part of an elaborate approach by Mr. Lungu to suffocate dissenting voices before the elections.

Earlier this month, a Zambian news outlet released what it claimed was the ruling party’s top-secret strategy to steal the presidential election scheduled for August this year. While the document itself has yet to be verified, there is no doubt that the strategy is already being implemented, almost to the letter. The fix appears to be in. 

Vanguard Africa director Jeffrey Smith discusses his recent article on the threat of state-led mass killing in The Gambia, as well as concerning events leading up the country's December 1 election. 

The Gambia is a small country in western Africa. It’s a narrow sliver on the ocean, surrounded by Senegal. It has a population of under 2 million, and according to my guest today, Jeffrey Smith, it is the worst dictatorship you have never heard of.